Saturday – Blinders On
It would happen every time my family went on vacation. The minute my Dad steered the car onto hwy 52 (now I-395) or any route directly connected to the "Connecticut Turnpike", we all knew we were headed home. It didn't matter if we were in Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, once the car began the trip "back" he wouldn't stop →
Friday – 350 miles to Ramsey, and a cold beer
Morning brought another sauna-like day. I was on the road by 8 a.m. and was looking forward to getting off the highway. State route 36 would be my yellow brick road as I dodged every threatening thunder storm all the way to Springfield where I picked up 29 and finally 51 south through Pana to Ramsey. The International Brotherhood of Motorcycle →
Thursday – South Dakota Has a Tail?
Thursday morning broke with some sunshine, enough to dry out the tent before packing it away. All the gear had survived the torrential rain and blasting wind without a problem, including the garbage bag encased riding suit. The next target was southern Illinois. There was an IBMC campout in Ramsey that would break up the (mostly) dull ride back East. Being just →
Wednesday – Black Hills to Badlands
As usual, I was on the road by 8 a.m. and entering Custer State Park which is a launch point for some unbelievable roads including Needles Highway. The plan was to take the long way up to Mount Rushmore then complete the loop running the Needles southbound. Every road in the park is beautiful. There's some re-paving going on right now →
Tuesday – Eastbound to the Sun
Morning arrived and it looked as it did for the past two days, only colder. 33 degrees and heavy fog. To leave Yellowstone out the East entrance you need to climb over Sylvan Pass. That meant more altitude, lower temps and possible frozen roads. Near the summit sits Sylvan Lake. It's still completely frozen over. The good news is that while taking →
Sunday, Monday – Growing Gills
I left the Hotel Sunday morning, gassed up and picked up some grub from the Albertsons supermarket in Jackson Hole. I was able reserve a campsite for two nights inside Yellowstone so I needed some camp food. There was a drizzling rain as I headed North to the Tetons. I had to grab some pics of downtown Jackson Hole... By →
Update
I haven't had wifi for a couple nights and have a bunch of pics to post (most of them with rain). I evacuated Yellowstone this morning with 33 degrees, drizzle and fog. I've found the sun and making a run for South Dakota. Derrick, Rt. 16 baby, Yea!
Well, at least it’s not snowing
It has rained all day and temps have hovered around the 50 degree mark. The Ranger says they have had six straight days of rain here in Yellowstone. Tonight I'm camping at Canyon Village near the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I took some super pics of the mountains coming up through Grand Tetons NP. You have to use →
Saturday – Northbound
I had been watching the weather in the Tetons for a couple of days now. The image of the rain cloud and temps in the 50s (daytime highs) seemed to repeat endlessly. The option of scrapping the northern route had crossed my mind. After all, I had five national parks to my south and that wasn't even counting Colorado. Then →
Friday – Al Leads the Way
Knowing locals is a good thing. Not only did Al and Michelle provide food, laundry, power, and shelter (the minor conveniences) but most important, Al knows all the good spots :-) We headed South around 10 a.m. toward "The Wedge". There is a long gravel road that takes you up to the northern section of the San Rafael Swell →
Thursday – The Loop
I pulled out of the campground at 7 a.m. and headed south on 191. Destination - Mokee Dugway. This a switchback that climbs out of the Valley of the Gods in Southeastern Utah. The weather was cool, as the cloud cover was keeping the Sun's rays from reaching the ground. As they started to break up I was able to →
Wednesday – Gunnison to Moab via Grand Junction
Black Canyon of the Gunnison is an awesome area with sheer cliffs, broken rock and a tortured landscape. The width of the canyon is not wide, nothing compared to the Grand Canyon, however its depth is comparable to what I saw at Toroweep on the North Rim. It's as if Mother Nature took a carving knife and slashed a gash →
Monday and Tuesday – It’s All The Same To Me
I left New Stanton, PA at 7:30 a.m. and began the tedious trek across the nations mid-section. The personal goal was to get as far west as possible. The bulk of the day was spent running from gas stop to gas stop and creating new seating positions to relieve stress on my own mid-section. The most effective was simply standing →
Sunday – The rodent gets a talking to.
9:00 a.m. I left the ATM in Colchester. It was an uneventful ride to PA. Traffic was light, speed traps were abundant. The GPS decided it had a better route than the one I had loaded and by the time I realized what had happened I had missed route 99 and was on my way to Youngstown. I ended up →
This stuff will be put to the test.
Ideal for butt busting activities. Do not injest.
Getting Going Already
So, the Strom had been running a bit rough lately. I had covered all the basics to the tune of $450 for fuel and air filters. This seemed solve the surging for about two weeks. Slowly the symptoms began to return. Steady throttle at any rpm would produce noticible surges, the gap between roll off and roll on was becoming →
This may be the final rev.
I've been back at the maps again. After having been talked into entering Colorado farther north I've included Rocky Mountain National Park and dropped the South Rim of Grand Canyon. From the Rockys in northern Colorado I'll work my way down to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I'll follow the Million Dollar Highway through Silverton and head west to Mesa Verde. →